Community defense groups including 805 UndocuFund and SBResiste reported a sharp increase in ICE enforcement across Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties, with nearly 100 arrests recorded in the Tri-County Area since October 5, including at least 63 in Santa Barbara County. The heaviest activity was reported in Santa Maria and Lompoc, where more than a dozen people were detained daily, including a parent arrested in a parking lot at Allan Hancock College and a father detained while dropping his daughter off at school. Unlike earlier enforcement that targeted jails and immigration offices, witnesses say recent arrests have been more indiscriminate, with agents reportedly stopping people who appear undocumented in workplaces, neighborhoods, and near schools. The activity is reportedly tied to a 45-day federal operation called "Operation Safe California," which Governor Gavin Newsom and gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra criticized as politically timed ahead of the November election; DHS has not confirmed the operation's existence.